(WAN/IFEX) – WAN reports that it has received assurances from the Algerian government that press censorship and the suspension of publications, together with the arrest, detention and prosecution of journalists for their reporting, have come to a “definitive” end in the country. **See IFEX alert dated 12 March 1998** In a four-hour meeting with WAN […]
(WAN/IFEX) – WAN reports that it has received assurances from the Algerian
government that press censorship and the suspension of publications,
together with the arrest, detention and prosecution of journalists for their
reporting, have come to a “definitive” end in the country.
**See IFEX alert dated 12 March 1998**
In a four-hour meeting with WAN representatives, the Algerian Minister of
Communications, Mr Habib-Chawki Hamraoui, committed his Government to a
“clean break” from a recent past during which censors visited printing
plants, journalists were charged and jailed for writing “unauthorized”
reports about security issues or “defamatory” stories about state
institutions and personalities, and newspapers were regularly suspended,
often without explanation.
Specifically, the Minister promised:
newspaper content “are gone forever and will not return”;
“guarantee” freedom of the press and access to information;
reporting activities;
year, will terminate the State monopoly on advertising, which has been
accused of being used to discriminate between publications on political grounds;
facilities, which will give them an alternative to the current government
printing monopoly;
visit Algeria;
guards during their visits “in a matter of weeks or months”; and
next month.
Mr Habib-Chawki Hamraoui, who is also the official spokesman of the Algerian
government, admitted that “many errors” had been made in State policy on the
media but that there was now a clear view that “muzzling” the press was
wrong and that a new page had been turned.
The meeting with the Minister took place during a four-day mission to
Algeria by WAN representatives. As they left Algiers on 19 March 1998, WAN
Director General Timothy Balding declared: “We have been told by the
government that a new era of press freedom has begun in Algeria and that
there is no turning back. In view of the fact that a newspaper publisher –
Omar Belhouchet – was sentenced to a year in jail only three months ago, we
can only be satisfied when we are told that such an action has now become
impossible. It is self-evident, however, that we shall follow developments
here very closely indeed and that the only gauge of the reality of this new
era will be whether or not the press can truly carry out its mission without
interference and in full freedom.”
The WAN representatives paid homage during their visit to more than 60
journalists and other media workers who have been assassinated during the
current conflict in Algeria and expressed their admiration for all the
newspaper men and women who have continued to work in the country under the
most difficult circumstances imaginable.
A full list of the propositions which WAN made to the Algerian Government,
and which were described as “very reasonable” by the Minister of
Communication, is attached to this release.
The WAN delegation also included Pedro J. Ramirez, Editor-in-Chief of El
Mundo, Madrid; Gebran Tueni, General Manager of An-Nahar, Beirut; Amin
Ammourieh, a journalist with An-Nahar, and Claude Galipeau, Executive
Assistant to the WAN Director General.
WAN, the global association of the newspaper industry, groups more than
15,000 newspapers in over 90 countries.
Declaration submitted to the Algerian Government by representatives of WAN
during their visit to Algeria from 15 to 19 March 1998:
The World Association of Newspapers:
1. Pays homage the journalists and other media workers who have been
murdered in Algeria in recent years and applauds the bravery of those who
continue to carry out their journalistic mission under the most difficult
circumstances imaginable.
2. Condemns in the most severe terms the perpetrators of these murders and
urges the authorities to redouble efforts to bring them to justice.
3. Applauds the recent withdrawal of “reading committees” – government
censors – from printing plants and looks forward to an official declaration
that they will not return.
4. Notes with satisfaction the recent Presidential Directive (no. 17) in
favour of greater freedom and pluralism of the press, approves of its spirit
and content, and looks forward to its confirmation in concrete actions.
5. Notes the call of the Minister of Communications and Culture,
Habib-Chawki Hamraoui, for a consultation process to revise the 1990
Information Code, but asks for the views of publishers and journalists to be
taken account of in the final text.
6. Requests that the Information Code (and any other relevant laws) be
changed to conform with international covenants guaranteeing freedom of
expression and freedom of the media, in order in due course to move towards
it abolition.
7. Believes that greater press freedom will help the international community
better understand the situation in Algeria and the horror of terrorist
actions, to the benefit of all concerned.
The World Association of Newspapers believes that the emergency measures
which affect the press should now be abolished and that reforms of Algerian
press laws and decrees should guarantee that it becomes:
journalists;
activities;
positions, and
journalists within the country.
Finally, WAN:
1. Denounces the discrimination used against publications in the placing of
government advertising, which leads to the closure or weakening of many
private newspapers.
2. Calls for the abolition of the State monopoly on this advertising.
3. Calls on public authorities, which currently have a monopoly on the means
of production and printing, to cease blocking the initiatives of private
publishers to obtain their own production and printing facilities.
4. Calls for the implementation of the right to information guaranteed by
the Algerian Constitution, together with free access to information sources,
both of which will help prevent rumours and false information.
5. Calls for the granting of visas and accreditation to all foreign
journalists wishing to report on Algerian and the complete liberty to
foreign news organizations to open bureaus in Algeria.
